phantom's master could even conceive of such a ruse implies that he's the one who truly committed the murder.'
'Or rather, that he has ties to those who did,' Thamalon said, his voice little warmer than before. 'He seems too young to have slain anyone thirty years ago. How are you?'
'Sore-especially my head-stiff, cold, grimy, thirsty, and hungry,' she said. 'But essentially all right.'
'I can do a little something about the hunger,'' he said, handing her a bundle of paper, which, when she unfolded it, proved to contain a square of date-nut bread. Trust him not to venture into the woods without a snack tucked into the pigskin pouch on his belt, or a flint, steel, and tinderbox, for that matter.
She took a bite of the pastry. 'I still want to hear how you knew about the tunnel,' she said through the first mouthful.
His green eyes widened, and she realized that never in their three decades together had he ever seen her gobble a morsel with such unladylike voracity. But of course it was far too late to worry about such things now.
'I've built my share of strongholds over the years,' Thamalon said. 'Trading outposts and Stormweather Towers itself. I wanted to make them secure, so I undertook a study of fortifications, during which I happened to learn that these old castles Rauthauvyr raised often had a secret tunnel leading out. I didn't know exactly where it would be located, so I had to leave you to guard my back while I went to look for it.'
'And since they didn't know it existed, our enemies must think the giant killed us, and our bodies lay buried somewhere in the wreckage of the fort.'
'Since they stopped hunting us and went home, it would appear so.'
'Good. We should try to figure out who the wizard is.' 'Not so fast,' said Thamalon. 'I've had faceless enemies before. This one will keep for a few more minutes. What I want to know now, and without another second of delay, is, who are you? I've thought of one possibility, but it seems preposterous.'
Shamur hesitated. She'd guarded the secret for so long it was hard to divulge it even now. Finally she said, 'If you're thinking I'm the first Shamur, the robber in the tales and ballads, you're right.' 'Explain,' he said. 'All of it.'
And so she did, beginning with the bored, hoydenish adolescent she'd been more than eighty years ago, a girl who had started sneaking out of Argent Hall to taste the boisterous life of the streets, and eventually become a thief for the excitement.
Thamalon grimaced. 'So that's where Thazienne gets it.'
Shamur blinked in surprise. 'You know about her thieving?'
'Not everyone manages to deceive me,' he said sourly. 'The way you two quarrel, I'm surprised you know. But go on with your tale.'
'Well, you know that after I was unmasked, I had to flee Selgaunt. Later, I fell in with a band of treasure hunters who were looting ruins south of the Moonsea. We broke into the wrong crypt, a chamber given over to magical devices the like of which I've never encountered before or since, where a guardian spirit appeared to battle us.' She could see the entity even as she spoke, a clawed, towering, shadowy thing, quick and savage as a leopard, and as terrible in its way as the masked wizard's elemental.
'Naturally,' she continued, 'the wizards and priests among us threw spells at the spirit. Somehow, their sorceries brought the devices in the vault to life, and they started shooting bolts of magical energy around. One of them struck an amulet I was wearing. I knew the pendant bore an enchantment, but had never discovered the purpose.
'The pearl in the amulet exploded, and instantly, or so it seemed to me, everything was different. Quiet. The spirit was gone. Much of the ceiling had fallen in, crushing the arcane apparatuses. My comrades lay dead, and looked as if they had been so for many years.
'When I returned to civilization, I found out that in fact, they had. Somehow, fifty years had passed for the rest of the world, but not for me.
'I reckoned that after so much time, it would be safe to return to Selgaunt, at least if I was discreet. You know what I found when I arrived. My family on the brink of ruin, their only hope an alliance by marriage with the House of Uskevren. So when the betrothed girl was murdered, they prevailed on me to impersonate her and wed you in her place.'
'How did they talk you into such a travesty?' asked Thamalon.
Shamur shrugged. 'After my displacement in time, they were the only people in the world I cared for, or even knew. Moreover, it was uncanny how my grand-niece had looked exactly like me, and even owned my name. I'd never truly believed in fate, but it gave me the strange, fey sense that it was my destiny to take her place.'
'Indeed,' he said, 'and while you were engaged in your philosophical ruminations, did it ever occur to you that you were dealing unjustly if not downright cruelly with me? Tricking me into a union with a stranger I didn't love, and who most certainly didn't care for me.'
Shamur felt an unexpected twinge of shame. 'To be honest,' she said, 'no. I didn't consider your rights or your feelings at all. As I said, we Karns were desperate. I suppose I should apologize.'
He laughed. 'Oh, please do. After all, you've only been causing me hurt for thirty years, culminating in an attempt to kill me. A little show of contrition will make everything right.'
She sighed. 'Thamalon-'
'Enough,' he said. 'I wanted to know how my life took the path it did, and you've told me. I don't need to hear professions of remorse. We have a problem to solve. Let's focus on that.'
'Fine,' she rapped. 'Then, who was Master Moon, do you think?'
Thamalon shook his head. 'I don't know. I have a nagging feeling I've heard his voice before, but I don't know where or when. You should have waited to make your move until he revealed his identity.'
'I moved at a moment when he was busy enjoying the sound of his own voice, and his henchmen were distracted by it as well. If I'd waited, we might not have gotten a second chance.'
'I suppose.'
'Anyway, I have no idea who he is, either,' she said. 'Nor could I identify any of the hired bravos, which is what they almost certainly were. In my youth, I was acquainted with half the bullies and cutpurses in the city, but now…' She shrugged.
'Then we're stymied,' he said.
'Perhaps not. I can think of two people who might lead us to the wizard. One is Audra Sweetdreams, the other, the first rogue with whom I crossed swords as we broke free of the clearing. We might be able to find him, for I got a good look at his face, and also noticed he has fish-scale tattoos.'
Thamalon's green eyes narrowed. 'Some of the watermen carry such marks. Of course, there's no shortage of watermen.'
'True,' she agreed. 'Still, it will be easier to search among them than to comb the whole city at random. Now, here's my thought. At the moment, we possess one advantage. Master Moon thinks I'm dead. He won't take any extraordinarily precautions to keep me from tracking him down, and I can take him by surprise when I do. So I'll make inquiries, and you'll go home and protect the children. If the wizard wanted to kill both of us, he's likely to strike at them as well, to annihilate the House of Uskevren for good.'
'The 'inquiries' could be dangerous.'
'I can take care of myself. Moreover, Master Moon did something to me that no one else has ever done. He made me his dupe. I mean to show him just how deeply I resent that.'
'I know just how you feel,' Thamalon said sardonically, 'and I agree to your scheme with one amendment. I'm coming with you.'
'No. I'm used to doing such things alone.' 'Nonsense. You already told me you've had dealings with other thieves and traveled with a troop of adventurers. Are you worried I'll slow you down? You should have noticed by now that, 'old man,' though I may be, I can take care of myself as well.'
'I am aware of that,' she admitted. 'But I don't understand why you would want to accompany me, now that you know that all of our life together has been a lie.'
'I may detest you, woman, but at the moment, what does it matter? We have an enemy to ferret out, it's a risky task, and you'll be better off with someone watching your back. Besides, if you want Master Moon to believe you dead, the ruse will be more convincing if neither of us surfaces. Whereas if I turn up alive, it will suggest the possibility that you might have survived as well.'
